Kensington Palace Gardens is a street in west central London, which contains some of the largest houses in the city. It is immediately to the west of Kensington Gardens and contains Notting Hill Gate with Kensington High Street (the southern section is actually called Kensington Palace Green, but in effect it is all one street).
It was built from the 1840s onwards, on part of the grounds of Kensington Palace and the freehold still belongs to the Crown Estate. The palace, which is still the residence of several members of the British Royal Family fronts the southern part of the street on the eastern side. The houses at the northern end are mostly Italianate, while those at the southern end are mostly in the Queen Anne style. For much of the 20th century a large proportion of the houses were occupied by embassies and ambassadors' residences. Some still are, but others have been renovated by the Crown Estate and sold to private buyers on long leases. One of these was purchased in 2004 by the steel tycoon Lakshmi Mittal, who in 2005 was listed by Forbes Magazine as the third richest man in the world, for £70 million (over $130 million at the time), which was widely reported to be the highest price ever paid for a house anywhere in the world.
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Last updated: 07-19-2005 01:41:56